This chapter shall be known as the "Township of Wilkins Alarm
System Ordinance."
This chapter is adopted to promote and protect the public health,
safety and general welfare of the community, to deter alarms requiring
police, fire and emergency medical personnel to respond in the absence
of an emergency thereby limiting the availability of emergency personnel
and severely affecting the public safety, to prevent public nuisances
and unreasonable noise which cause substantial public inconvenience,
annoyance or alarm and to prohibit and require the removal of such
nuisances prejudicial to the public health or safety.
In the construction of this chapter, the rules and definitions
contained in this section shall be observed and applied, except when
the context clearly indicates otherwise:
A. Words used in the singular shall include the plural, and the plural
the singular.
B. Words used in the present tense shall include the future tense.
C. The word "shall" is always mandatory and not discretionary.
D. The word "may" is permissive.
The following definitions shall apply in the interpretation
and enforcement of this chapter:
ALARM SYSTEM
Any assembly of equipment, mechanical, electrical, electronic,
or battery operated, arranged to signal by trunk line the occurrence
of a police, fire, hazard or medical emergency requiring urgent attention
and to which police, fire or emergency medical units are expected
to respond.
ANSWERING SERVICE
A service whereby trained employees, in attendance at all
times, receive prerecorded voice messages from automatic dialing devices
reporting an emergency at a stated location, where such employees
have the duty to relay immediately by live voice any such emergency
message over a trunk line to the communications center of the police,
fire or emergency medical service department.
AUDIBLE ALARM
Any device, bell, horn or siren which is attached to the
interior or exterior of a building, structure or facility and emits
a warning signal audible outside the building, structure or facility
and is designed to attract attention when activated by a criminal
act or other emergency requiring Police or Fire Department response.
AUTOMATIC DIALING DEVICE
A device which is interconnected to a telephone line and
is programmed to transmit a signal by a voice or coded message that
indicates that an emergency condition exists and the need for an emergency
response is required.
CENTRAL STATION
A protective system or group of such systems operated privately
for customers by a person, firm or corporation which accepts recorded
messages from automatic dialing devices at a central station having
operators and guards in attendance at all times who have the duty
to take appropriate action upon receipt of a signal or message, including
the relaying of messages to the communications center of the Police
or Fire Department.
CHIEF OF POLICE
The Police Chief of the Wilkins Township Police Department.
EMERGENCY
A police, fire, hazard or medical crisis, exigency or emergency.
FALSE ALARM
A.
An alarm activated in the absence of an emergency, whether willfully
or by inadvertence, negligence or unintentional act, to which the
Police Department, Fire Department or the Wilkins-Churchill Rescue
One (or its affiliate or successor) responds. The definition excludes
alarms caused by malfunctions of the Wilkins communication center's
receiving equipment; alarms for which the user has attempted to cancel
a response; testing or repairing of telephone or electrical lines
or equipment outside the premises; acts of God, such as earthquake
or flood; an attempted illegal entry; a crime in progress; or, in
the case of emergency medical alarm, an actual medical emergency requiring
police, fire and/or medical personnel. If doubt exists as to the cause
of the false alarm, the Chief of Police or his designee shall make
a decision regarding the circumstances of the activation. If a call
is cancelled with the police communication center before police, fire,
or emergency medical service personnel are dispatched from their respective
bases, the alarm will not be counted as a false alarm.
B.
Multiple alarms received by the Police Department before the
system can be deactivated or repaired within 72 hours of awareness
of the alarm malfunction shall be considered a single alarm.
C.
The definition of a false alarm also includes the intentional
activation of a holdup alarm for other than a holdup in progress,
the intentional activation of a burglary alarm for other than a burglary,
the intentional activation of a medical alarm for other than a medical
emergency or the intentional activation of a fire alarm for other
than a fire or hazard.
HAZARD EMERGENCY
An explosion, leak of toxic gas, liquid or solid, or a potential
explosion or leak.
INTERMEDIARY
A central station protective system or an answering service
as herein defined.
KEY
To use a telephone line and equipment for transmitting a
message either directly or indirectly by an automatic dialing device.
PERMIT
Written permission duly granted to an applicant by the Township
upon payment of the required fee.
POLICE EMERGENCY
An incident requiring prompt response by the Police Department.
TOWNSHIP
The Township of Wilkins, County of Allegheny.
TRUNK LINE
A telephone line leading into the communication center of
the Police Department or answering service that is for the purpose
of handling calls on a person-to-person basis and which is identified
by and issued by the telephone company.
By submitting an application for permit for the installation
of an alarm system and the subsequent installation of such a system
or by the continuation of the use of an alarm system already installed
at the effective date of this chapter, the owner, lessee or user thereof
shall agree that such permit application constitutes a waiver by such
person of the right to bring or file any action, claim or complaint
whatsoever against any police officer, fireman or emergency medical
service person who makes a forced entry in response to such an alarm
into the premises on which such an alarm is installed as a result
of entry into the subject premises. In the event that the owner of
such premises is a person other than the permit applicant, as in the
instance of a lessee or other user not the owner of the premises on
which the alarm is installed, such permit application shall constitute
an indemnification agreement by the applicant to hold harmless any
such police officer or fireman, the Township, the Police Department,
the Fire Department and emergency medical personnel, as appropriate,
from any and all damages whatsoever claimed by the lessor or owner
of the premises on which the alarm is installed.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
This chapter shall be enforced by action brought before a Magisterial
District Judge in the same manner provided for the enforcement of
summary offenses under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure.
Any person, partnership, corporation or other entity who or which
violates or permits a violation of the provisions of this chapter
shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding, pay a fine of not
more than $1,000, plus the costs of prosecution, and in default of
the payment of the fine and costs of prosecution, shall be imprisoned
for a period not exceeding 30 days. Each day that the violation continues
shall be considered a separate offense.